Mothering

Mothering brings together the works of Aravani Art Project, Chathuri Nissansala, Liactuallee, Roghayeh Najdi, and Shivangi Ladha in an intimate curatorial framework that reimagines "mothering" as a radical, expansive practice of care, resilience, and kinship, one that transcends biological imperatives to embrace chosen affinities and collective sustenance. While “mother” is a word that holds multitudes, here it becomes both noun and verb: a doing, a becoming, a holding together. Mothering delves into the deeply personal practices of these artists, illuminating alternative modes of caring that thrive at the margins of dominant social orders. These artists explore how alternative forms of mothering—within queer subcultures, matriarchal lineages, and chosen families—flourish at the peripheries of dominant social structures.

In the works and community practice of Aravani Art Project, mothering is redefined through acts of solidarity and survival. Working with trans and gender non-conforming communities, they create spaces of safety and belonging—where family is not only chosen but often forged in response to alienation and systemic discrimination. For Aravani, mothering is a collective resistance: to mother is to protect, to nurture, to persist. In Chathuri Nissansala’s artistic practice, mothering is an act of quiet, transformative reclamation. They/She performs with discarded and found objects transforming them into embroidered deities—an act of queer ancestral resurrection through nurturing and ritual. This tender gaze repairs grief through gentle reclamation, honoring the lives of queer Sri Lankans while resisting erasure.

Shivangi Ladha, now based in London, away from her motherland looks at mothering through the lens of solidarity and alienation. Her delicate prints reveal the tension between isolation and collective strength, especially among women who appear together as interconnected figures rooted in nature. Her practice also draws from her own experiences as an immigrant—finding sustenance and protection within circles of fellow artists, who stand in as guardians to one another. Similarly, Roghayeh Najdi’s paintings gather women together, rendered as negatives—a reflection on the suppression of female identity in contemporary Iran. Within these fragile outlines, women hold, guard, and shelter one another. Blooming flowers foregrounds her canvases, symbols of power and collective resilience, where sisters, guardians, and mothers stand together against systemic oppression. In contrast, Liactuallee’s textile sculptures echo organic, alien forms—creatures that feel both earthly and otherworldly. Drawing from their personal experiences, their work gestures towards mothering the self. Their practice suggests that care can be self-directed: that tending to one’s own alienation can become an act of self-protection and radical acceptance.

Mothering is an invitation to look beyond conventional ideas of care and to open ourselves to new ways of giving and finding refuge in one another. While this exhibition draws on the lived experiences of artists from diverse cultures and contexts, the act of caring transcends regions and borders. In a time when the idea of home—as both a boundary and a place of comfort—is increasingly fragile, Mothering reminds us that creating and sharing spaces of belonging is a vital, radical resource. It invites viewers to reconsider what it means to mother—across cultures, across bodies, and across time.

Yash Vikram